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STRAY BIRDS 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS 
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN & CO., Limited 

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. 

TORONTO 



STRAY BIRDS 



BT 

SIR RABINDRANATH TAGORE 

AUTHOR OF " GITANJALI," ETC. 



FRONTISPIECE IN COLOUR 
BY WILLY POGANY 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1916 

All rights restrved 



0- 



^ttV 



C* 



COPTEIGHT, 1916, 

By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published November, 1916. 




NOV 16 1916 



NotSnooS i^teas 
J. S. Cashing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



©CI.A445658 



TO 

T. HARA 

OF 

YOKOHAMA 






Stray birds of summer come to my 
window to sing and fly away. 

And yellow leaves of autumn, which 
have no songs, flutter and fall there 
with a sigh. 

O TROUPE of little vagrants of the 
world, leave your footprints in my 
words. 



®, 



The world puts off its mask of vast- 
ness to its lover. 

It becomes small as one song, as one 
kiss of the eternal. 



It is the tears of the earth that keep 
her smiles in bloom. 
[7] 



'M 



® 



:S^-X5SJR^«' .sTBay" "BIRDS W 



.©. 



The mighty desert is burning for 
the love of a blade of grass who 
shakes her head and laughs and flies 
away. 

6 

If you shed tears when you miss 
the sun, you also miss the stars. 



@ 



The sands in your way beg for your 
song and your movement, dancing 
water. Will you carry the burden of 
their lameness.'^ 



'#^ 



8 

Her wistful face haunts my dreams 

like the rain at night. 

[8] 



■0) sTi^ay- -BT-R-DS W^ps 



^,^^i^^^<^<S) ^(^'^J 



'^£? '-^i^vp—ZO^S^OUi^O 




9 



Once we dreamt that we were) 
strangers. 

We wake up to find that we were^^ 
dear to each other. 



10 

Sorrow is hushed into peace in 
my heart Hke the evening among the 
silent trees. 

11 

Some unseen fingers, Hke idle breeze, 
are playing upon my heart the music 
of the ripples. 

12 

'*What language is thine, O sea.f^" 
"The language of eternal question. "i 

'•' What language is thy answer, O sky ? " 
"The language of eternal silence." 

[91 



x@ 



/<S/ 



ST1?ay"BTTR'DS^\ 



13 

^t Listen, my heart, to the whispers 
of the world with which it makes love 



14 



The mystery of creation is like the 
©darkness of night — it is great. De- 
lusions of knowledge are like the fog 



15 




Oj^ToJof the morning. 



Do not seat your love upon a preci- 



"^^^iwP^^^ because it is high. 



16 



I SIT at my window this morning 
^where the world like a passer-by stops 
For a moment, nods to me and goes. 

[101 






17 

These little thoughts are the rustle f^ 
of leaves; they have their whisper of 
joy in my mind. @^ 

18 

What you are you do not see, what | 
N you see is your shadow. 



©/ 



My wishes are fools, they shout 
across thy songs, my Master. 
Let me but listen. 



h®. 



20 

I CANNOT choose the best. 
The best chooses me. 
Ill 




^^W^^^'f^T^' 



:;^^v5t^ 



21 

They throw their shadows before 
them who carry their lantern on their 
back. 

That I exist is a perpetual surprise 

which is life. 

23 

We, the rustling leaves, have a 
voice that answers the storms, but 
who are you so silent?" 
**I am a mere flower." 

24 

Rest belongs to the work as the 
eyelids to the eyes. 

25 

Man is a born child, his power is 
the power of growth. 

[121 



\^<i^^®<^(fi 



"BTKDS 



26 




.Vj 



God expects answers for the flowers 
he sends us, not for the sun and the 
earth. 

27 



The Hght that plays, Hke a naked ©5 
child, among the green leaves happily® ^<^^C^ 
knows not that man can lie. 



28 @uo 

O Beauty, find thyself in love, not/fe^ 
in the flattery of thy mirror. aaS®5^/ 



My heart beats her waves at the^ 
shore of the world and writes uponf/©] 
it her signature in tears with thef 
words, "I love thee." 

[13] 



^o: 



B^iS> Q^®=>p^§2§#c<§$^cfe®e*e'® o<§:i£'€>^ 



30 



"Moon, for what do you wait?" 
**To salute the sun for whom I must 
/| make way." 

31 



'^ ^£n like the yearning voice of the dumb 
earth. 

® His own mornings are new surprises 
^Wlf to God. 



K%y 



:© 



Life finds its wealth by the claims 
y] of the world, and its worth by the 



pj claims of love. 

?5^ 



34 



^ The dry river-bed finds no thanks 
for its past. 

fl41 



35 

The bird wishes it were a cloud. 
The cloud wishes it were a bird. 



36 



The waterfall sings, "I find my ^^^g^ 



song, when I find my freedom." 



37 

I CANNOT tell why this heart Ian- ®^^°^ 
guishes in silence. 

It is for small needs it never asks, 
or knows or remembers. 



^/ 



38 

Woman, when you move about in \ ^©z 
your household service your limbs sing ^^ 
like a hill stream among its pebbles. 

ri5i 



%' 







'^^^f 



<^^(s/^^^. 



39 



% 



The sun goes to cross the Western ] 
sea, leaving its last salutation to the \ 
East. i 



40 



l^ 



Do not blame your food because i 
you have no appetite. 



,© 



41 



© 



v(2) 



'a 



The trees, like the longings of the 
earth, stand a-tiptoe to peep at the 
heaven. 



42 

You smiled and talked to me of 
nothing and I felt that for this I 
had been waiting long. 

fl6l 






c<s>,M;^©^^^<^cr '^1) Q^^oui^io'^^s^^i^©s:i/^sig'o' 



43 

The fish in the water is silent, the 
animal on the earth is noisy, the bird 
in the air is singing. 

But Man has in him the silence of 
the sea, the noise of the earth and the 
music of the air. 

44 

The world rushes on over the strings 
of the lingering heart making the music 
of sadness. 

45 

He has made his weapons his gods. 
When his weapons win he is de- 
feated himself. 




^s 



^®^ 



46 

God finds himself by creating. 
[17] c 



f%>^ 



sTBar"'BTRDs 4 ; 

47 \ 

Shadow, with her veil drawn, follows ] 
Light in secret meekness, with her I 
silent steps of love. j 

t i 

/ 48 j 

@<v^ Th:e stars are not afraid to appear 

% like fireflies. 

/ I THANK thee that I am none of the ; 

' wheels of power but I am one with the j 

living creatures that are crushed by it. ■ 



50 j 

The mind, sharp but not broad, | 
sticks at every point but does not i 
move. 

[18] I 

1 
I 






51 

Your idol is shattered in the dust 
to prove that God's dust is greater 
than your idol. 



52 

Man does not reveal himself in 
his history, he struggles up through 
it. 



53 

While the glass lamp rebukes the 
earthen for calling it cousin, the moon 
rises, and the glass lamp, with a bland 
smile, calls her, — "My dear, dear 
sister." 
[19] 






o^\Q> &^<§^o^s>i^ 'd^oi^s^cfe:::^ ©<^ 0©)° ©<^(3>R^:^S5ijC<^ 



\o^®/, 



54 

Like the meeting of the seagulls 
and the waves we meet and come near. 
■The seagulls % oflF, the waves roll 
away and we depart. 



.©. 



.a 



© 



®. 



55 

My day is done, and I am like a i 
boat drawn on the beach, listening to 
the dance-music of the tide in the , 

evening. • 

\ 
I 
56 

Life is given to us, we earn it by ] 
giving it. ■ 



57 

We come nearest to the great when 
we are great in humility. 

[201 



'§ ST*Ra5^ -BIRDS i^^^^ 



58 

The sparrow is sorry for the pea- 
cock at the burden of its tail. 



59 ( 

Never be afraid of the moments — 
thus sings the voice of the everlasting.' 



60 

The hurricane seeks the shortest^ 
road by the no-road, and suddenly 
ends its search in the Nowhere. 



^<?j£i 



K®. 



61 

Take my wine in my own cup, 
friend. ' 

It loses its wreath of foam when 
poured into that of others. 

[211 



ST'Rny "BTTRDS 



6d 

The Perfect decks itself in beauty 
for the love of the Imperfect. 



6$ 

God says to man, *'I heal you there- 
fore I hurt, love you therefore punish." 



64 

Thank the flame for its light, but 
do not forget the lampholder standing 
in the shade with constancy of patience. 



65 

Tiny grass, your steps are small, 
but you possess the earth under your 
tread. 

[22] 



^^,f STHa^-BT-RDS 



66 

The infant flower opens its bud 
and cries, "Dear World, please do 
not fade." 



67 

God grows weary of great kingdoms, 
but never of little flowers. 



68 

Wrong cannot afford defeat but 
Right can. 



69 '^''^' ^-^ ■ 

"I GIVE my whole water in joy," 
sings the waterfall, "though little of 
it is enough for the thirsty." J5!^\^^ 

[ 23 ] 






'MS 



^;i,-> o 









70 I 

Where is the fountain that throws j 
up these flowers in a ceaseless outbreak j 
(§ of ecstasy ? 

5^ 71 

® : 

^ The woodcutter's axe begged for j 

" its handle from the tree. I 

,y' The tree gave it. ] 



72 

In my solitude of heart I feel the ! 

i 
sigh of this widowed evening veiled \ 

with mist and rain. \ 



73 s 

i 

Chastity is a wealth that comes ' 
from abundance of love. \ 

[24] 






74 



The mist, like love, plays upon the! 
heart of the hills and brings out sur-l 
prises of beauty. 



w-^© 



fj 



75 @1S 



We read the world wrong and say! 
that it deceives us. 



76 

The poet wind is out over the seaj 
and the forest to seek his own voice. 



fe 



h®> 



77 

Every child comes with the message( 
that God is not yet discouraged of 
man. 
[25] 



oTlip 









78 

The grass seeks her crowd in the 
earth. 

The tree seeks his soHtude of the 
sky. 

79 
Man barricades against himself. 



80 

Your voice, my friend, wanders in 
my heart, Hke the muffled sound of 
the sea among these Hstening pines. 



81 

What is this unseen flame of dark- 
ness whose sparks are the stars .^ 



STH^D^IBTTRDS 

82 

Let life be beautiful like summer 
flowers and death like autumn leaves. 



83 

He who wants to do good knocks 
at the gate; he who loves finds the 
gate open. 

84 

In death the many becomes one; 
in life the one becomes many. 

Religion will be one when God is 
dead. 

85 

The artist is the lover of Nature, 
therefore he is her slave and her 
master. > 

r27i ^ 







86 




"How far are you from me, O 
Fruit?" 

**I am hidden in your heart, O 



87 



This longing is for the one who is 



piS^^Cmi f^It in the dark, but not seen in the 
day. 



'*You are the big drop of dew under 
the lotus leaf, I am the smaller one 
on its upper side," said the dewdrop 
to the lake. 

89 

The scabbard is content to be dull 
when it protects the keenness of the 
sword. 

[«8] 




TSTRHJ^-BTRDS 



:;:-©^^ 



90 



In darkness the One appears ^sm^^^^^ 
uniform ; in the light the One appears |f^^ 



as manifold. 



91 



pi table with the help of the grass. 



92 

The birth and death of the leaves®/ 
are the rapid whirls of the eddy 
whose wider circles move slowly among 
stars. 

98 

Power said to the world, **You are^ 
mine." i 

The world kept it prisoner on her 
throne. 
[ 29 1 



STKayBT-RDS 



is)^ O't*'" 



Love said to the world, ''I am 
thine." 

The world gave it the freedom of 
her house. 



94 

The mist is like the earth's desire. 
It hides the sun for whom she cries. 



95 

Be still, my heart, these great trees 
are prayers. 



The noise of the moment scoffs at 
the music of the Eternal. 

[30] 






97 

I THINK of other ages that floated 
upon the stream of Hfe and love and 
death and are forgotten, and I feel 
the freedom of passing away. 



98 



The sadness of my soul is her 
bride's veil. 

It waits to be lifted in the night. 



99 

Death's stamp gives value to the 
coin of life ; making it possible to buy 
with life what is truly precious. 
[31] 



STTiay"'BTm)s 



100 



^- ^<°^ The cloud stood humbly in a corner 



^^lof the sky. 



f^^Wwt The morning crowned it with splen- 



101 

The dust receives insult and in 
return oflFers her flowers. 



102 

Do not linger to gather flowers to 
[keep them, but walk on, for flowers 
^will keep themselves blooming all your 
|way. 

108 

Roots are the branches down in 
the earth. 

Branches are roots in the air. 

r32i 



104 



The music of the far-away summer 
flutters around the Autumn seeking 
its former nest. 



105 

Do not insult your friend by lend- 
ing him merits from your own pocket. 



106 



The touch of the nameless days 
clings to my heart like mosses round 
the old tree. 



m 



^ 



K®, 



107 



The echo mocks her origin to prove 
she is the original. 



33 



#^STT?a>^ -BT-RDS €-,.. 






108 



God is ashamed when the prosperous 
boasts of His special favour. 



109 



P^ 



I 



^ 



I CAST my own shadow upon my 
path, because I have a lamp that has 
not been lighted. 



110 

Man goes into the noisy crowd to 
drown his own clamour of silence. 



mj^ 







111 

That which ends in exhaustion is 
death, but the perfect ending is in the 
endless. 

[341 






112 

The sun has his simple robe of 
light. The clouds are decked with 
gorgeousness. 

lis 

The hills are like shouts of children 
who raise their arms, trying to catch 
stars. 

114 

The road is lonely in its crowd for 
it is not loved. 

115 ^^cy,M 

The power that boasts of its mis- 
chiefs is laughed at by the yellow /4)J^(#^ 
leaves that fall, and clouds that pass 

by. 
r35i 






'@ 



116 

The earth hums to me to-day in the 
sun, like a woman at her spinning, 
some ballad of the ancient time in 
a forgotten tongue. 



117 



% 



The grass-blade is worthy of the 
great world where it grows. 



\m 



118 



^0Y®/5?(/ Dream is a wife who must talk. 

Sleep is a husband who silently 
suflFers. 

119 

! The night kisses the fading day 
whispering to his ear, '* I am death, your 
mother. I am to give you fresh birth." 

[36] 






:^?€)<^©'=©c <^© ^^^i^o^go^^o'^QaQ^o*^^ 



120 

I FEEL thy beauty, dark night, like! 
that of the loved woman when she 
has put out the lamp. 



121 

I CARRY in my world that flourishes; 
the worlds that have failed. 




122 



Dear friend, I feel the silence of| 

your great thoughts of many a deep-; 

ening eventide on this beach when I^ 
listen to these waves. 



'®j. 



M 



123 I 

The bird thinks it is an act of kind- 
ness to give the fish a lift in the air. 
[37] 



l^^'' 



5TT?ay— BTTR-DS f 



124 

"In the moon thou sendest thy love 
letters to me," said the night to the 
sun. 

**I leave my answers in tears upon 
the grass." 



125 

The Great is a born child ; when he 
dies he gives his great childhood to 
the world. 



126 

Not hammer strokes, but dance of 
the water sings the pebbles into per- 
fection. 

[381 



1 ST-Ray-BT-Rps 



127 

Bees sip honey from flowers and 
hum their thanks when they leave. 

The gaudy butterfly is sure that the 
flowers owe thanks to him. \^ 



Cf"' 



128 ^^.€-^::-^g 

To be outspoken is easy when you 
do not wait to speak the complete 
truth. 

129 

Asks the Possible to the Impossible, 
"Where is your dwelling place .f^" 

*'In the dreams of the impotent," 
comes the answer. 



130 

If you shut your door to all errors 
truth will be shut out. 
[39] 



a 







131 



^ 



^1 I HEAR some rustle of things behind 
my sadness of heart, — I cannot see 



132 

Leisure in its activity is work. 
The stillness of the sea stirs in waves. 



<^^ 



133 

The leaf becomes flower when it 
doves. 

The flower becomes fruit when it 
^ worships. 

134 

jvo^J The roots below the earth claim no 
rewards for making the branches fruit- 
ful. 

[40] 



\®:^5<^-- 






135 



This rainy evening the wind is J^ 
restless. 1 

I look at the swaying branches and 
ponder over the greatness of all ihmgsJQ 



136 



Storm of midnight, like a gianr 
child awakened in the untimely dark,c 
has begun to play and shout. 



m 



s©. 



isr 

Thou raisest thy waves vainly toj 
follow thy lover, O sea, thou lonely' 
bride of the storm. 

[41] 






138 

"I AM ashamed of my emptiness," 
said the Word to the Work. 

"I know how poor I am when I see 
you," said the Work to the Word. 



j 139 

Time is the wealth of change, but 
the clock in its parody makes it mere 
change and no wealth. 



140 

Truth in her dress finds facts too 
tight. 

In fiction she moves with ease. 

[42] 



STTia^^ "BTTRDS 



141 

When I travelled to here and to 
there, I was tired of thee, O Road, 
but now when thou leadest me to 
everywhere I am wedded to thee in 
love. 



142 

Let me think that there is one 
among those stars that guides my 
life through the dark unknown. 



143 

Woman, with the grace of your 
fingers you touched my things and 
order came out like music. 

[43] 






144 



One sad voice has its nest among 
the ruins of the years. 

It sings to me in the night, — "I 
loved you." 



145 



The flaming fire warns me ofT by 

its own glow. I 

Save me from the dying embers , 

^^l\ hidden under ashes. i 



'©K 



146 



'^^ 



I HAVE my stars in the sky, 
But oh for my Httle lamp unlit in 
my house. 

[441 



\®5« 



^ ST-RHP^-BT-RPS m^ 



147 

The dust of the dead words clings 
to thee. 
Wash thy soul with silence. 



\^ 



^^1 



W 



148 

Gaps are left in life through which 
comes the sad music of death. 



149 ©; 

The world has opened its heart of 
light in the morning. 

Come out, my heart, with thy love M 
to meet it. 

150 

My thoughts shimmer with these 
shimmering leaves and my heart sings 
with the touch of this sunlight; my 
[45] 



Wc 



^^l 



.®( 



STHZI>'-BTTRDS 

life is glad to be floating with all things 
into the blue of space, into the dark of 
time. 

151 

God's great power is in the gentle 
breeze, not in the storm. 



152 

This is a dream in which things are 
all loose and they oppress. I shall 
find them gathered in thee when I 
awake and shall be free. 



153 

"Who is there to take up my 
duties .f^" asked the setting sun. 

"I shall do what I can, my Master," 
said the earthen lamp. 

[46] 






154 

By plucking her petals you do not 
gather the beauty of the flower. 



155 

Silence will carry your voice like 
the nest that holds the sleeping birds. 



156 

The Great walks with the Small 
without fear. 

The Middling keeps aloof. 






157 (| 

The night opens the flowers in secret 
and allows the day to get thanks. r 

[47] 



^&^f 



STKaX" -BTTRDS I 






158 



# 



.©, 



Power takes as ingratitude the writh- 
lings of its victims. 



Xo)'^ 159 

mi ^ ... 

-^^^^ When we rejoice m our fulness, 
C^^ then we can part with our fruits with 
joy. 






160 

The raindrops kissed the earth and 
whispered, — "We are thy homesick 
children, mother, come back to thee 
From the heaven." 



m^ 



161 

"^ The cobweb pretends to catch dew- 
Irops and catches flies. 

[481 



STPa^^-BT-RDS 



I6d 



Love! when you come with the 
burning lamp of pain in your hand, I 
can see your face and know you as 
bliss. 



163 



'*The learned say that your lights 
will one day be no more." said the fire- 
fly to the stars. 

The stars made no answer. 



164 

In the dusk of the evening the bird 
of some early dawn comes to the nest of 
my silence. 

[ 49 ] B 



STT?ay""BT-RDsT' ^^^ , 



165 

^T.^-p^fe^ Thoughts pass in my mind like 
flocks of ducks in the sky. 

I hear the voice of their wings. 



m 



166 

The canal loves to think that rivers 
exist solely to supply it with water. 



167 



\C|' The world has kissed my soul with 

its pain, asking for its return in songs. 

s^^^V^^ 168 • 

That which oppresses me, is it my 
soul trying to come out in the open, 
or the soul of the world knocking at 
my heart for its entrance ? 

[50] 









<§^^5^^;^<^^^©0 O^QiiSo©, 



£^^ii^'^< 



169 

Thought feeds itself with its own 
words and grows. 

170 

I HAVE dipped the vessel of my heart ®^L 4<^o 



into this silent hour ; it has jQlled with 
love. 



@: 



171 



Either you have work or you have ^^;^; 



not. 



When you have to say, ''Let us do 
something," then begins mischief. 



172 

The sunflower blushed to own the ;k®r 
nameless flower as her kin. » >^g)^ 

The sun rose and smiled on it, saying, f^ 
"Are you well, my darling.^" 
[51] 



173 

''Who drives me forward like fate ?" 
''The Myself striding on my back." 

174 

The clouds fill the watercups of the 
river, hiding themselves in the distant 
hills. 

175 



I SPILL water from my water jar as I | 

walk on my way, i 

Very little remains for my home. I 



176 \ 

I 

i 

The water in a vessel is sparkling; j 

the water in the sea is dark. i 

The small truth has words that are \ 

clear ; the great truth has great silence. ^ 

[521 i 






177 

Your smile was the flowers of your 
own fields, your talk was the rustle 
of your own mountain pines, but your 
heart was the woman that we all 
know. 



178 

It is the little things that I leave 
behind for my loved ones, — great 
things are for everyone. 



179 

Woman, thou hast encircled the 
world's heart with the depth of thy 
tears as the sea has the earth. 

[531 



®^f 



'^#W ■ STRnr"Bl-RDS q 



180 



The sunshine greets me with a smile. 
The rain, his sad sister, talks to my 



181 



.©y 



My flower of the day dropped its 
petals forgotten. 

In the evening it ripens into a golden 
fruit of memory. 



s© 



182 



I AM like the road in the night listen- 
ing to the footfalls of its memories in 
silence. 



^®. 



fc?c 



^<^^ 



183 

The evening sky to me is like a win- 
dow, and a lighted lamp, and a waiting 
behind it. 

[54] 



'TSTKnJ^-BT-RDS 



184 



/f^' 



He who is too busy doing good finds 
no time to be good. I1^§1 - 



<^. 



185 

I AM the autumn cloud, empty of 
rain, see my fulness in the field of 
ripened rice. 

186 

They hated and killed and men 
praised them. 

But God in shame hastens to hide 
its memory under the green grass. 



187 

Toes are the fingers that have for- 
saken their past. 

[55] 




ST*R?I>""BTRDS 

188 

Darkness travels towards light, but 
blindness towards death. 



189 

The pet dog suspects the universe 
for scheming to take its place. 

■j 

^ 190 

Sit still my heart, do not raise your 
dust. 

Let the world find its way to you. 



191 

The bow whispers to the arrow before 
it speeds forth — "Your freedom is 



mine." 



56 



192 

Woman, in your laughter you have 
the music of the fountain of life. 



193 

A MIND all logic is like a knife all 
blade. 

It makes the hand bleed that uses it. 



194 

God loves man's lamp lights better 
than his own great stars. 



195 

This world is the world of wild storms 
kept tame with the music of beauty. 

[571 



^f 






196 



^-LJ"/^^?M° "My heart is like the golden casket 
J5^| of thy kiss/' said the sunset cloud to 
the sun. 



197 



By touching you may kill, by keep- 
(gNi^^^^ ing away you may possess. 



198 



The cricket's chirp and the patter of 
- . rain come to me through the dark, like 
^-^S^f the rustle of dreams from my past 



youth. 




199 



"I HAVE lost my dewdrop," cries the 
flower to the morning sky that has lost 
all its stars. 

[58] 



f"STT?a>^-BT-RPS 



200 






The burning log bursts in flame and . ^^^ -^^^ 
cries, — "This is my flower, my death. 



»» iro 



The wasp thinks that the honey- -^ - 
hive of the neighbouring bees is too @ c.- 
small. ^ " 

His neighbours ask him to build one 
still smaller. 

202 

"I CANNOT keep your waves," says 
the bank to the river. 

"Let me keep your footprints in my 
heart." 

203 

The day, with the noise of this little 
earth, drowns the silence of all worlds. 
[59] 








i 



204 

(5§^° The song feels the infinite in the air, 
€^ the picture in the earth, the poem in 
the air and the earth ; 
^J^Vo\ For its words have meaning that 
o^(^^@^ walks and music that soars. 



m 



205 

When the sun goes down to the 
West, the East of his morning stands 
before him in silence. 



Let me not put myself wrongly to 
my world and set it against me. 

[601 






207 

Praise shames me, for I secretly beg 
for it. 



208 

Let my doing nothing when I have 
nothing to do become untroubled in its 
depth of peace like the evening in the 
seashore when the water is silent. 



^^f 



)% 



209 

Maiden, your simplicity, like the 
blueness of the lake, reveals your 
depth of truth. 

210 

The best does not come alone. 
It comes with the company of the all. 
[61] 



m 



4^: 



i 



sTBax" "BIRDS a 



'C. 0^-i.'wiU.^'C<- 



^:;) 

^ 



211 



^^^■-(^m God's right hand is gentle, but 



terrible is his left hand. 



m^m 



212 



My evening came among the alien 
(§>sc;^^ trees and spoke in a language which my 



(0) 



©Jl morning stars did not know. 

I 



213 



A-r .r 1 d Night's darkness is a bag that bursts 
%. xck^n® with the gold of the dawn. 



214 



Our desire lends the colours of the 
ij^^X^M rainbow to the mere mists and vapours 




of life. 



62 















215 

God waits to win back his own 
flowers as gifts from man's hands. 



216 

My sad thoughts tease me asking me 
their own names. 

217 

The service of the fruit is precious, 
the service of the flower is sweet, but 
let my service be the service of the 
leaves in its shade of humble devotion. 



218 

My heart has spread its sails to the 
idle winds for the shadowy island of ^^^CS/^^l 
Anywhere. 
[63] 




SrT?HX"BTTRT5S 

Men are cruel, but Man is kind. 

mo 

Make me thy cup and let my fulness 
be for thee and for thine. 

The storm is like the cry of some god 
in pain whose love the earth refuses. 



222 i 

The world does not leak because i 

death is not a crack. j 

223 ' 

Life has become richer by the love ! 

that has been lost. i 

[641 ' 



'§'''ST'Rn>^'BTHDS 



224 

My friend, your great heart shone 
with the sunrise of the East like the 
snowy summit of a lonely hill in the 
dawn. 



r^' 



^'^'%,: 



225 

The fountain of death makes the 
still water of life play. 

226 

Those who have everything but 
thee, my God, laugh at those who 
have nothing but thyself. 

227 

The movement of life has its rest in 
its own music. 
[ 65 1 F 







228 i 

Kicks only raise dust and not crops ; 
from the earth. 

229 ' 

I 

Our names are the light that glows 1 
on the sea waves at night and then dies 
without leaving its signature. i 



230 

Let him only see the thorns who has 
eyes to see the rose. 



231 

Set bird's wings with gold and it 
will never again soar in the sky. 

[66] 



TSTK?IX""BT'RPS 

The same lotus of our clime blooms 
here in the alien water with the same 
sweetness, under another name. 



i^^/M 



In heart's perspective the distance 
looms large. 

234 

The moon has her light all over the 
sky, her dark spots to herself. 



235 

Do not say, "It is morning," and dis- 
miss it with a name of yesterday. 
See it for the first time as a new-born 
child that has no name. 
[67] 



A.) 





,,» .STRar""BT"RPS t' 



Smoke boasts to the sky, and Ashes 
to the earth, that they are brothers to 
the fire. 



237 

l^^i?^^ The raindrop whispered to the jas- 
mine, "Keep me in your heart for 
ever." 

The jasmine sighed, "Alas," and 
dropped to the ground. 





£38 



Timid thoughts, do not be afraid of 



me. 



I am a poet. 



68 






239 




The dim silence of my mind seems j, r^^AT^ 
filled with crickets' chirp — the grey ' 
twilight of sound. 



240 



Rockets, your insult to the stars 
follows yourself back to the earth. 







%: 



241 



V. 



Thou hast led me through my f^I^^'^^m. 
crowded travels of the day to my 
evening's loneliness. ' 

I wait for its meaning through the 
stillness of the night. 
[69] 




^ /KN-.0 fp;\ /f^ ^ ,(^5.^-5 .-Si . 



STRTiy "BTTRDS J 



^s§>\ 



242 



This life is the crossing of a sea, 
where we meet in the same narrow ship. 

In death we reach the shore and go 
to our different worlds. 



243 

The stream of truth flows through 
its channels of mistakes. 




244 

My heart is homesick to-day for the 
one sweet hour across the sea of time. 



245 

The bird-song is the echo of the 
4 morning light back from the earth. 

[70] 



',"^^-,i=>>^''5-v.^1_ 



STTRny^-BTTRDS 

246 

"Are you too proud to kiss me?" 
the morning light asks the buttercup. 



247 

"How may I sing to thee and wor- 
ship, O Sun?" asked the little flower. 

" By the simple silence of thy purity," 
answered the sun. 

248 I 

Man is worse than an animal when 
he is an animal. 



Dark clouds become heaven's 
flowers when kissed by light. 
[711 






>-Q^gJ/^,^N°VS)(gJ!r^^c;' e.-. 



" ®^t^^S/^^^(^ 



250 



^\ Let not the sword-blade mock its 



handle for being blunt. 



251 



i^sxs^^^^ The night's silence, like a deep lamp, 



^®is burning with the light of its milky- 
way. 



252 






Around the sunny island of Life 
^^C^AC^ swells day and night death's limitless 
^\Mn0.song of the sea. 



253 

i^"] Is not this mountain like a flower, 
'with its petals of hills, drinking the 
^°iLA^7 sunlight .^ 

[721 



,,,.¥ STHa>^ -BIRDS 



£54 



&.. 



The real with its meaning read wrong 
and emphasis misplaced is the unreal. 



^55 



Find your beauty, my heart, fromo^fe; 



the world's movement, like the boat®^^&^ 
that has the grace of the wind and the "^^^ '-/ 
water. 



256 



w. 



■.m^ 



The eyes are not proud of their sight 
but of their eyeglasses. 



257 ^ 

Ir 

I LIVE in this little world of mine and 
am afraid to make it the least less. 
Lift me into thy world and let me have 
the freedom gladly to lose my all. 

[73] 



'^ 



tij'^^ 






258 

The false can never grow into truth 
by growing in power. 



259 

My heart, with its lapping waves of 
song, longs to caress this green world 
of the sunny day. 

260 

Wayside grass, love the star, then 
your dreams will come out in flowers. 



261 

Let your music, like a sword, pierce 
the noise of the market to its heart. 

[74] 



^. ST-Ra>^"BT-R-DS 



262 (i' 

The trembling leaves of this tree 
touch my heart like the fingers of an 
infant child. p: 

263 

This sadness of my soul is her bride's 
veil. 

It waits to be lifted in the night. 



264 f 

The little flower lies in the dust. 
It sought the path of the butterfly. 

265 V 

I AM in the world of the roads. [y 

The night comes. Open thy gate, 

thou world of the home. 

[75] 




»STRn>' "BIRDS tu^ 



266 



I HAVE sung the songs of thy day. 
In the evening let me carry thy lamp 
through the stormy path. 



267 

I DO not ask thee into the house. 
N"^" Come into my infinite loneliness, my 
Lover. 



'j 



268 



Death belongs to life as birth does. 
The walk is in the raising of the foot 
'44' as in the laying of it down. 



:M 



269 



I HAVE learnt the simple meaning of 
thy whispers in flowers and sunshine — 
<^^|^| teach me to know thy words in pain 
and death. 

[761 







270 



The night's flower was late when the j 
morning kissed her, she shivered and ^^ "^ 
sighed and dropped to the ground. 



271 



Through the sadness of all things ®J^ 
I hear the crooning of the Eternal 
Mother. 



272 



MfeSt 



I CAME to your shore as a stranger, I 
lived in your house as a guest, I leave 
your door as a friend, my earth. 



273 



Let my thoughts come to you, when 

I am gone, like the afterglow of sunset 

at the margin of starry silence. 
[77] 







274 

Light in my heart the evening star 
of rest and then let the night whisper 
to me of love. 

275 

I AM a child in the dark. 
I stretch my hands through the cov- 
erlet of night for thee. Mother. 



276 

The day of work is done. Hide my 
face in your arms, Mother. 
Let me dream. 

> 277 

The lamp of meeting burns long ; it 
goes out in a moment at the parting. 






278 

One word keep for me in thy silence, 
O World, when I am dead, "I have 
loved." 

We live in this world when we love 
it. 

280 

Let the dead have the immortality 
of fame, but the living the immortality 
of love. 

281 1,^/.^ y 

I HAVE seen thee as the half- 
awakened child sees his mother in the 
dusk of the dawn and then smiles and 

sleeps again. X^^S^^ 

[79] 



STHay "BTTTDS 



282 

I SHALL die again and again to know 
that life is inexhaustible. 



While I was passing with the crowd 
in the road I saw thy smile from the 
balcony and I sang and forgot all noise. 

5 284 

\ Love is life in its fulness like the cup 

with its wine. 

>^^ They light their own lamps and sing 
their own words in their temples. 

But the birds sing thy name in thine 
^O^^c^own morning light, — for thy name is 

f^ joy. 

[80] 



^<S><k::f.\ : 







Ps)^(^o ^® <^;;^^o 



286 



Lead me in the centre of thy silence 
to fill my heart with songs. 



287 



Let them live who choose in their '^^gj^^ 
own hissing world of fireworks. ®y^^ >^i 

My heart longs for thy stars, my God. 



Love's pain sang round my life 
like the unplumbed sea, and love's joy 
sang like birds in its flowering groves. ^-^®/ 

289 

Put out the lamp when thou wishest. \^®^ 

I shall know thy darkness and shall 

love it. 

[81] G 




['c-7/'^ ^^^VoVQl©t© ^^-^^■M'«»-^ -•?»M^-r^«- ^^ 



Q?/ 






290 



(iQ„©/i 



When I stand before thee at the 
day's end thou shalt see my scars and 
know that I had my wounds and also 
my heahng. 



291 



S 



;@ 



Some day I shall sing to thee in the 
sunrise of some other world, ''I have 
seen thee before in the light of the 
earth, in the love of man." 



m.®^ 



■ 1 



292 

Clouds come floating into my life 
from other days no longer to shed rain 
or usher storm but to give colour to 
my sunset sky. 

[821 






® 



293 

Truth raises against itself the storm 
that scatters its seeds broadcast. 



©^ 



'\<S)Q(i 



M 



294 



©: 



The storm of the last night has@ i-^C^*' 



crowned this morning with golden M^^^ ■ 
peace. """^ ^ 



.OyfQ>l 



©/ 



295 

Truth seems to come with its final 
word ; and the final word gives birth to 
its next. 



Wc 



^®m 



.®{. 



296 

Blessed is he whose fame does not 
outshine his truth. 
[831 



®^ 






297 

Sweetness of thy name fills my 

^3 heart when I forget mine — like thy 

^morning sun when the mist is melted. 



298 



The silent night has the beauty of 




the mother and the clamorous day 



299 



The world loved man when he smiled. 
The world became afraid of him when 



he laughed. 



300 



God waits for man to regain his 

childhood in wisdom. 

[84] 







301 

Let me feel this world as thy love 
taking form, then my love will help it. 




302 



Thy sunshine smiles upon the winter® 
days of my heart, never doubting of its0f%:,^^ ^ 
spring flowers. 



303 

God kisses the finite in his love and 
man the infinite. 



Wc 



304 

Thou Grossest desert lands of barren 
years to reach the moment of fulfil- 
ment. 

[85] 



^/ 



mwmmj^^rm^ry^u^ 



m 



305 

God's silence ripens man's thoughts 
|into speech. 

306 

Thou wilt find, Eternal Traveller, 
Jmarks of thy footsteps across my songs. 






® 



m 



^^^ 



\®. 



307 

Let me not shame thee. Father, who 
^displayest thy glory in thy children. 

308 

Cheerless is the day, the light 
under frowning clouds is like a pun- 
ished child with traces of tears on its 
Ipale cheeks, and the cry of the wind is 
jlike the cry of a wounded world. But 
1 know I am travelling to meet my 
fFriend. 

[86] 






309 



To-night there is a stir among the|^^ 
palm leaves, a swell in the sea, Full 
Moon, 



like the heart throb of the| 



<sSifi 



world. From what unknown sky hast^@^ 
thou carried in thy silence the aching ®^l^/0) 
secret of love ? ^^S^p - 



310 

I DREAM of a star, an island of light, . ^ ^ 
where I shall be born and in the depth ©^ 
of its quickening leisure my life will 
ripen its works like the ricefield in the 
autumn sun. ^ 

311 

The smell of the wet earth in the^>. 
rain rises like a great chant of praise ^^ 
from the voiceless multitude of the 
insignificant. 
[87] 



'(2)y 



.f^ 



312 

S^° That love can ever lose is a fact 
that we cannot accept as truth. 

313 



(^^1^® We shall know some day that death 

-,s -^i-%can never rob us of that which our 

^soul has gained, for her gains are one 



314 



3 



U 



God comes to me in the dusk of my 
evening with the flowers from my 
4 past kept fresh in his basket. 

315 

;®^ When all the strings of my life 
^jwill be tuned, my Master, then at 
^every touch of thine will come out the 
tousic of love. 

[88] 



316 

Let me live truly, my Lord, so thai 
death to me become true. 



m 



817 



Man's history is waiting in patience 
for the triumph of the insulted man. 



^d 



^©^ 



318 

I FEEL thy gaze upon my heart this 
moment like the sunny silence of the 
morning upon the lonely field whose^ 
harvest is over. 



Wc 



319 

I LONG for the Island of Songs across^ 
this heaving Sea of Shouts. 
[89] 



%^ 







)^ 



320 



The prelude of the night is com- 
menced in the music of the sunset, in 
.^its solemn hymn to the ineffable dark. 



321 

I HAVE scaled the peak and found no 
^shelter in fame's bleak and barren 
height. Lead me, my Guide, before 
t^the light fades, into the valley of 
quiet where life's harvest mellows into 



golden wisdom. 



322 



Things look phantastic in this dim- 
ness of the dusk — the spires whose 
(0)"^ bases are lost in the dark and tree tops 
^?j like blots of ink. I shall wait for the 
©^ morning and wake up to see thy city 
in the light. 

[90] 



x(^<^- 



O. r:?^ r> r=^--_Ti ^;x a/} 



§ STT?a>^-BTTn>S WMM 



^^y^<iii'iijy<s)~\i::i/<o \^<p) '^-i^r-^^^o'-i^ioOL^'o vi.(v^:r'o*i:i^(r 



\i 



323 



I HAVE suffered and despaired and 
known death and I am glad that I am 
in this great world. 



324 
There are tracts in my life that are 
bare and silent. They are the open 
spaces where my busy days had their 
light and air. 

325 

Release me from my unfulfilled 
past clinging to me from behind mak- 
ing death difficult. 



Wc 



Let this be my last word, that I 
trust in thy love. 



Printed in the United States of AmBrica. 



[91] 



'T^HE following pages contain advertisements 
of books by the same author. 



THE WORKS OF RABINDRANATH TAGORE 
Bolpur Edition 

The Hungry Stones and Other Stories. 

Fruit-Gathering. 

Chitra: A Play in one act. 

The Crescent Moon: Child Poems. 

The Gardener: Love Poems. 

Gitanjali: Religious Poems. 

The King of the Dark Chamber: A Play. 

The Songs of Kabir. 

Sadhana: The Realization of Life. 

The Post Office: A Play. 

Each volume decorated cloth, $1.50; leather, $2.00 

This new edition of the works of Rabindranath 
Tagore will recommend itself to those who desire 
to possess the various poems and plays of the great 
Hindu writer in the best possible printings and bind- 
ings. Great care has been taken with the physical 
appearance of the books. In addition to the special 
design that has been made for the cover, there are 
special end papers and decorated title pages in each 
book. Altogether this edition promises to become 
the standard one of this distinguished poet and seer. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



RABINDRANATH TAGORE'S NEW POEMS 



Fruit Gathering 



Perhaps of all of Tagore's poetry the most 
popular volume is " Gitanjali." It was on this 
work that he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 
Literature. These facts lend special interest 
to the announcement of this book, which is a 
sequel to that collection of religious " Song 
Offerings." Since the issue of his first book, 
some four years ago, Tagore has rapidly grown 
in popularity in this country, until now he must 
be counted among the most widely read of mod- 
ern poets. Another volume of the merit, the 
originality, the fine spiritual feeling of " Gitan- 
jali " would even further endear him to his 
thousands of American admirers. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New Tork 



RABINDRANATH TAGORE'S NEW BOOK 

The Hungry Stones and Other Stories 

By RABINDRANATH TAGORE 

Author of 'Truit Gathering," "Gitanjali," "The 
Crescent Moon," etc. 

Some of the more notable of Mr. Tagore's short 
stories are here presented in translations by the 
author and with illustrations by native Indian ar- 
tists. Ernest Rhys, in his biography of Tagore, 
devotes much space to a consideration of him as a 
short story writer, advancing the opinion that this 
particular form of literature is one of the most im- 
portant expressions of Tagore's genius. Now for the 
first time English readers are given the opportunity 
of acquainting themselves with this new Tagore and 
of forming their own estimate of him. None of the 
material in this volume has ever appeared before in 
English. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



W8S 



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